“Global investors, who have enjoyed an excellent start to 2019, received some unsettling news from FedEx Corp.” The “weak results from the shipping giant bode poorly for the global economy, and investors don’t seem ready for a slowdown.”

Plenty of executives and investors say they are worried about climate change. “Yet the reality is that meaningful global environmental regulations are nowhere on the horizon. The risk of severe climate change is thus rising, posing physical threats to many firms. Most remain blind to these, often wilfully so. They should start worrying about them.”

“Trump’s aggressive trade actions have also made investors much more sensitive to China’s domestic economic woes, a development which Trump doubtless views as a sign that his administration is winning the trade war but which has backfired due to the adverse spillover effects on America’s economy and markets…. A trade truce, should one materialise, has come too late.”

“Nobody expected May’s Brexit deal to secure a majority. Nevertheless, the scale of the defeat—the worst for a British government in modern history—was startling…. It’s very unlikely the deal can be rescued.” In fact, investors seem to be signaling that “reversing the Brexit decision” is now more likely than “a chaotic exit…. The pound jumped 1.4 percent against the U.S. dollar immediately after the result was announced on Tuesday.”

“Many investors had expected department stores to enjoy robust sales over the holidays in light of a U.S. economy buoyed by low unemployment, higher wages, strong consumer confidence and cheap gas.” Lackluster results from Macy’s and Kohl’s sent “retail stocks into a tailspin… calling into question whether such mall-based chains can compete in a changing landscape where shoppers are shifting more of their spending online.”

“Institutional investors have long been skeptical that impact funds can deliver the returns they need to meet their investment objectives.’ But Impact Capital Investors a consortium of multiple investment firms is attempting to make the case with convincing evidence that investors “don’t have to trade high returns for so-called impact investing, or investing with social, environmental, and other objectives.”

“Already at risk of unraveling,” the unsteady truce between China and the U.S. has just become more precarious. “Even before news of Ms Meng’s arrest, global stocks see-sawed as investors wondered if hostilities might resume.” For China, at least her arrest “looks like a political salvo. Huawei is a pillar of the Chinese economy—and Ms Meng is the founder’s daughter. The fate of the trade talks could hinge on her encounter with the law.”

It’s “sunrise in Tokyo… After three decades out of fashion, the country’s companies are ready for a revival.” At last, “Japan’s stock market is poised for a comeback.” Japan has had and still has its detractors, but “for the first time in years, Japanese companies are playing a tune that investors are able to whistle.”

“Investors should expect decades of selling pressure on Japanese stocks from the most implacable bears in the market: the recently deceased…. The relentless sell-off, which threatens to intensify until the year 2040 as the huge, wealthy postwar baby boom generation expires, arises from an estimate that about 80 per cent of inherited shares are immediately sold by heirs.”

“Financial markets have some things in common with professional sport. Investors and fans are both desperate for winners and despondent about losing. They are passionate about little ups and downs, while outsiders often find the rules arcane and the enthusiasm weird. And for both, all the jumping and screaming has little effect on the rest of the economy.”